


we taste like finally

by cg_lurks (cg_reads), ImagineTheHaus



Series: ITH Holiday Special 2k16 [5]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: 20 days to Haus Christmas, First Kiss, M/M, Mistletoe, Secret Admirer, rupi kaur
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 09:58:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9066919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cg_reads/pseuds/cg_lurks, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImagineTheHaus/pseuds/ImagineTheHaus
Summary: Imagine Nursey and Dex meeting under a mistletoe, either on accident or by design.





	

**Author's Note:**

> all poetry belongs to the brilliant:
> 
> rupi kaur, milk and honey

 The first gift had been innocent enough, though the card had been - _intense_.

_how do you turn_   
_a forest fire like me_   
_so soft i turn into_   
_running water_

The accompanying hot chocolate had been decadently rich, spicy and sweet with just enough of a bite not to overwhelm him. The card, print on creamy cardstock, and thermos, which itself had been a gift, had been left at the front desk of his office building.

* * *

The second gift is equally as sweet, but it speaks of someone who knows him personally, who remembers his quiet appreciation for his grandmother’s chocolate toffee. 

_my tongue is sour_   
_from the hunger of_   
_missing you_

Dex is – he doesn’t know what he is, so he grabs the elegant gold and black tin box and the card, again print alone on the heavy paper, and heads up to his office. 

* * *

_you’ve touched me_   
_without even_   
_touching me_

The card alone leaves Dex flushed in the all too public lobby of his building. But, the gloves – beautiful, sturdy, dark leather gloves, perfect for his more hands-on engineering projects – mean it’s time for him to call in a second opinion.   

* * *

Dex knew after his first year at Samwell that he’d always think fondly of the SMH team. However, four years after his own graduation, he could firmly say that he could count a good number of them among his closest friends.

And thank everything good for that. 

There are some situations that just plain call for an Eric Bittle(-Zimmerman).

“Oh my.”

Dex wrings his hands as he watches Bitty read each card, flipping them over to search for a signature, just as Dex had. 

“Oh my.”

“Yeah, I know. They’re - they’re _intense_  right! Like, beyond usual secret admirer intense, right? I’m not making this up?”

“Making what up?” Jack asks, coming up behind Bitty to drop a kiss on Bitty’s head before peaking at the cards in Bitty’s hands. His eyebrows jump as he reads the uppermost card in the small stack.

“Well.”

“Right!”

“Do they bother you, Will?” Bitty asks. 

And, Dex doesn’t _know_. His hands rake through his hair in agitation. 

“Yes! No. I don’t - I just don’t know who would - who would even feel this _strongly_. About me.” He swallows.

“Is there someone you’d like it to be?” Bitty’s voice is soft, cautious, but it needn’t be. _That_  particular  ~~dream~~ ~~fantasy~~   ~~wish~~ idea had been given up a long time ago.

It’s not that he and Nursey hadn’t eventually worked out their differences and become friends. They had. Pretty good ones, in fact. (Though, the friendship had involved a considerable amount of arguing and occasional shouting.) It’s just that it had never become anything more. 

And then Nursey had been off to New York for grad school - his Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. They kept in touch - Nursey occasionally bombarding him out of the blue about whatever topic he was up in arms about, Dex occasionally sending him sketches of new projects and - well, that had been pretty much it.

For three and half a years.

The last six months though, he’d been back, returned from New York to settle in the unofficial SMH borough of Boston. 

While there’d been an undeniable energy between them since then, a simpatico that had been hard won from their hockey days, there wasn’t _hunger_  (none that Dex had been able to pick up on - he’d been trying so hard not to look). 

“No. No, there’s no one.” 

* * *

_my favorite thing about you is your smell_   
_you smell like_   
_earth_   
_herbs_   
_gardens_   
_a little more_   
_human than the rest of us_

This gift is accompanied by a bottle of cologne - it’s expensive, more than he’s willing to spend on something so unnecessary. It’s the only brand that doesn’t irritate his skin. It’s a scent that his grandfather had gotten him as a graduation gift.

His hands tremble as hope starts to burrow its way under his skin.

* * *

_you are the faint line_   
_between faith and_   
_blindly waiting_

Dex has never received flowers before. The internet tells him that sunflowers represent adoration. ~~Yellow means hopelessly in love.~~ Dex closes out the browser. 

* * *

_i don’t want to be friends_   
_i want all of you_   
_\- more_

This time time, the card is double-sided. On the back is a date, time and address. It’s the same as Jack and Bitty’s Haus Reunion Non-Denominational Winter Celebration. “I’ll be in black.” 

* * *

Dex can feel his heart hammering in his chest as he walks through the ZimBits’ place. There’s a crowd of old friends and new. He tries to be polite as he makes his way through, but he’s distracted. There’s just one set of eyes he needs to lay his eyes on so he can friggin _rest._

“Hey,” Lardo taps him on the shoulder. “He’s over there.” Dex thinks (hopes) that he thanks her before taking off, but he can’t really be sure.

He’s pushing his way through the crowd until it finally breaks before the entrance to the hallway. Standing perfectly framed under the mistletoe above is Derek Nurse. He’s decked in black - black shoes, slacks, shirt, sweater vest (so prep school), jacket and bow tie. 

So. Dramatic.

“Seriously, why are you like this?”

Derek’s mouth curls at the corners.

“No really, with the cards and the gifts –” Dex is close enough now to poke a finger into Derek’s chest. 

Derek catches his wrist, but doesn’t move his hand.

“You didn’t like them,” he asks. There’s a flash of genuine concern in his eyes.

“I didn’t say that. Just - “ Dex huffs a breath trying to gather his thoughts. It’s always like this with them. “Why not just _say_? It’s not like we’re not friends.”

That ridiculous song about only wanting you is playing in the background. Someone should really remind Bitty that this is non-denominational. 

Derek’s smiling again. He’s got that obnoxious glint in his eyes - the one that makes Dex crazy.

“Why didn’t  _you_  say? I’m not the only one who’s here tonight.”

“Yeah, well - how was I even supposed to know you’d be - you’d even want this?”

Derek’s eyebrow does that thing - that ‘exactly my point, my friend’ thing. Has Dex mentioned the way this man makes him crazy. 

“I don’t have your words.”

Derek’s smile curls further, grows into something rich and sweet. He gestures upward to the red and green sprig of mistletoe Dex had forgotten about.

“Not everything has to be said in words. May I?” Dex doesn’t quite remember when they got so close, but he’s not upset by it. “We can finish arguing about the rest later. I promise.”

“I - yeah - just -” it’s hard to think with green eyes grinning at you. “Just know that I’m right.”

A puff of air ghosts against his cheek as Nursey laughs.

“Yes, of course. Just - just chill for a minute.”

Their first kiss, it tastes like finally.

**Author's Note:**

> We are always accepting new prompts at our [tumblr](https://imaginethehaus.tumblr.com) account, so feel free to drop by with a little headcanon or ask.


End file.
